


One Shot - These Wounds Were Meant to Heal

by TheAngelThyla



Series: New Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow [6]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Grooming, High School, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Nervousness, Pre-Relationship, Scars, Trust Issues, Wings, preening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-17
Updated: 2014-10-17
Packaged: 2018-02-21 14:16:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2471210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAngelThyla/pseuds/TheAngelThyla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lenore helps James by grooming his wings and learns something surprising</p><p>Set Pre-Story</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Shot - These Wounds Were Meant to Heal

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in their second year of High School so they've only known each other for a year.

Lenore climbed the stairs to the second floor and to James' room, where his mother had said he would be.  
 _Second door on the left..._  
The young Asgardian found the door open, James standing by his bed, removing leather straps that held his wings.  
Lenore heard a pained hiss escape as the leather caught on a few feathers.  
She knew he had wings but never had the opportunity to see them. And they were _beautiful._  
She cleared her throat, causing James to spin around in surprise.  
"Lenore, hi," he stammered. The boy folded the strips of leather and twisted them in his hands, nervously.  
"Hi," Lenore repeated. Glancing at his wings, she noticed many of the feathers out of place in what seemed like uncomfortable positions.  
"What?" James asked at the scrutiny.  
"Those look like they bother you," she answered, nodding towards his wings. "Would you, um, like me to help?"  
 _You shouldn't have asked that. Of course he's not going to let you touch his wings,_ she silently scolded herself.  
James' ears turned red but the corner of his mouth turned up and he gave a small nod.  
"Yeah, that-" He swallowed nervously, glancing to the floor and back up. "I'd appreciate it."  
They both just stood there in silence, Lenore in the doorway and James standing at the end of the bed, for a few minutes until Lenore dipped her head nervously and walked over to the bed.  
"Would if be okay if I-?" She gestured to the bed.  
"Yeah, sure," James answered.  
Lenore climbed over to the middle of the bed and situated herself cross-legged, James seating himself on the edge of the bed, wings flopped lazily to each side.  
At this close-up view, Lenore could make out a black feather amongst the snowy white every now and then.  
Carefully, she reached out to stroke a feather and was startled by the sudden jerk the wing made, as if to get away from her.  
"Did I hurt you?" she asked timidly.  
By now, James' whole face was red.  
"No, I just," he looked over his shoulder and quickly averted his gaze forward. "I've never let anyone by my mom touch them, before."  
Lenore stared at the back of the young man's head for a few moments before her turned around.  
"Did I say something wrong?" he asked innocently.  
Lenore couldn't stop the grin that spread to her face and shook her head.  
"No, nothing at all," she whispered.  
The winged male, seemingly satisfied, turned back around so Lenore could finish the task.  
She carefully ran two of her fingers from the top to the bottom of each feather, paying careful attention to the ones out of place.  
As she came to where the left wing met James' back, she stopped. There was a scar across the top where no feathers grew. It seemed to be a few years old at least, white and ridged. Definitely painful and bloody when it happened.  
Lenore ran her thumb softly over it, causing the wing to twitch and James to hold his breath.  
"I'm sorry," Lenore commented, pulling her hand back. Her curiosity peaked along with her worry. "Would it be alright if I asked how you got that?" she whispered.  
James refused to look at her but Lenore could still see the blood draining from his neck and felt him tense.  
"James?"  
"I, um," he paused and sighed. "When I was a kid I hid my wings for a while because I was ashamed and when I was 13, I couldn't hide them anymore so I tried to cut them off."  
Lenore felt her eyes sting with tears.  
"My mom caught me and now I've never really felt comfortable with anyone else touching my wings," he finished, voice cracking.  
Lenore couldn't stop herself from hugging James from behind, almost knocking him off the bed.  
James turned himself to return the embrace, both teenagers with tears running down their cheeks.  
"Thank you for trusting me," Lenore whispered into his shirt.  
"No," James shook his head minutely. "Thank _you_ for helping me."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm thinking about making this a two-parter and writing James finding out about Lenore's emotional/mental scars so let me know what you guys think.  
> Kudos, comment, favorite. Anything helps!


End file.
